Arabia studio flats

These studio homes, built for an architect, a joiner and their families, are situated in the wooden-built suburb of Toukola. They supplement the adjoining buildings, which date from 1920, and form a harmonious ensemble with them.

The roof is the pitched roof typical of the area, finished with grey bitumen. The frame and the vertical boarding are in timber. The 28-mm radialsawn cladding is painted with dark-grey linseedoil-based paint. Daylight penetrates right to the heart of the deep-framed building through large windows made of fixed double-glazed units.

The net area of the entire building is 920 m², plus attic and basement. The homes are arranged in a series of spaces spiralling upwards to end in the attic studio which has a roof window to let in the soft north light. The light-coloured wall finishes, solid balustrades and sloping roofs control the diagonal vistas through the whole depth of the building.

The dwellings can be varied. The rooms are arranged around the stairs and bathrooms and there are no load-bearing partitions. The basement-level entrance can be used by a youngster who is becoming independent, or by an artist who receives visitors at home.

The buildings edge the back of the site to form a shared garden which is planted with fruit trees and soft-fruit bushes. There are external stores and kitchen gardens at the northern edge of the site and spaces for car parking beside the gable walls.

The finishes used for the building are high quality and ecologically sustainable. The residents procured their built-in furniture and fireplaces themselves in the European manner.